Americans Took A Record 10.7 Billion Public Transit Rides Last Year

Does that headline make the hours you’ve spent taking public transit flash in front of your eyes? Because the fact that we took 10.7 billion public transit rides in 2013, the most since 1957, well that translates to billions of minutes. We did this together, everyone.

The overall public transit use got a 1.1% bump between 2012 and 2013, although miles driven also went up 0.3%. Cities like Austin, Philadelphia, Anchorage, Minneapolis, and Portland, Oregon all reported double-digit increases in commute rail services, which had some of the biggest growth.

The APTA sees this as a good sign of economic recovery — the more jobs there are, the more people there are commuting to work. Federal investment also plays a part, APTA President and CEO Michael Melaniphy said.

“The federal investment in public transit is paying off and that is why Congress needs to act this year to pass a new transportation bill,” he said in the press release.